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4 Ways to Use Dry Bread

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Bread is the stuff of life. Every culture has its favorite bread. And the mothers within every culture have found ways to use it when it starts to dry out. That Maman who invented pain perdu (French toast)? She was a genius!

Unless it has already become a moldy science project, dry or day-old bread can be used in a number of dishes with great success. (Ditch the stuff with fuzz or colored spots.)

Consider this the next time you see a clearance rack of bread. Usually stores pull baked goods from the main shelves when there are still a few days left before the “sell by” date. This is a great way to snatch up some very good deals. I’ve found artisan bread as inexpensive as $0.50/loaf!

Don’t be scared to buy day old bread. Instead stash it in the freezer until you have time to use it in ways that make its drier texture work for you.

1. French toast – My kids love this recipe that I found in a vintage cookbook. So easy and easily frozen for quick breakfasts. I just can’t make it fast enough.

2. Bread Crumbs – I haven’t bought bread crumbs in over 10 years. It’s so easy! Just tear up dry bread and put it in your blender or food processor. Pulse until you have your desired consistency.

3. Egg Bake – This is one of my “chicks only” recipes. My guys like simple ham and eggs. But, this is a fun treat for me. It also freezes really well, so I can make several small ones and enjoy them as FishMama breakfasts and brunches.

4. Croutons – My family loves to snack on croutons just plain. I prefer them on salad. But, either way, they’re a great way to use dried bread.

What do you do with stale bread? I’d love to get some new ideas to add to my bag of tricks.

Comments

Even though you wrote this a year ago I will still like to comment 🙂 I worked in a restaurant that made bread bowls for soup. We would carve out the insides and use the “filling” for croutons. That way we didn’t waste any part of the loaf.

As a kid my mom would spend year round saving the butts to the sandwich bread in the freezer. Then a few days before Thanksgiving she would get it all out and thaw it. The night before all of the kids would rip it up to make stuffing for our bird.

Bread pudding is what comes to mind. However, I just made a really good stuffing tonight with leftover bread from the freezer. I emailed you on that one, quite a loooooooooonnnnnngggg email but I had bunches to say, lol and didn’ know if I should post something that long here.

I have to find my bread pudding recipe, it is fantastic and my stuffing I made using a recipe from online but just modifying it to what I actually had on hand. It was fantastic. Great blog you have going. Thanks.

I have’t bought bread crumbs in a long time. Once I find that the bread is drying out, I leave it sitting out until it is completely dried out. Once moisture is completely gone, I put it into an airtight container in the freezer. I continue to add to it when more comes in. When bread crumbs are needed, I grab some out of the freezer and crush them up. It works wonderfully.

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